Container for receiving and discharging a flowable medium

ABSTRACT

A container for receiving and discharging a flowable medium comprises a resilient wall enclosing a volume receiving the flowable medium, an opening through which the flowable medium may be discharged when the volume of the container is reduced by applying pressure to the resilient wall, and an automatically resetting pneumatic device for indirectly applying the pressure to the resilient wall. This device may be an actuating hollow body comprised at least partly of a resilient material, the hollow body bordering on the resilient wall, and the resilient wall and hollow body together closing the volume of the container. Alternatively, the device may comprise an outer container for a gaseous medium, the outer container hermetically enclosing the container receiving the flowable medium, except for the opening, and the outer container having a resilient wall for applying pressure on the gaseous medium, which pressure is transmitted to the resilient wall of the container receiving the flowable medium, the proportion of the volume of the outer container to the container hermetically enclosed thereby being between 1.2:1 to 20:1.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a container for receiving anddischarging a flowable medium, which has an opening through which theflowable medium may be discharged when the volume of the container isreduced by applying pressure to a resilient wall of the container. Theflowable medium may be preferably an adhesive or it may be a cosmeticfluid, or generally any flowable medium used for a variety of uses.Typically, the container has the form of a tube whose wall is comprisedentirely of a resilient material yielding to pressure, such as aresilient synthetic resin or aluminum.

[0003] Such a container should provide a targeted application of theflowable medium discharged from its opening without the medium flowingout of the opening uncontrollably or dripping. This pointed applicationof the flowable medium cannot be accomplished, or is accomplished onlyunsatisfactorily, if the container material is aluminum or a thinsynthetic resin. The reason for this is the resiliency of the containerwall, which usually has little resetting capacity, i.e. it is notautomatically restored to its original shape after it has been deformedunder pressure.

[0004] The discharge of the flowable material from such a container isobtained by squeezing the container wall. For this purpose, thecontainer is held between two fingers and squeezed from opposite sides.As long as the container is fairly full, this always causes too muchflowable medium to be discharged through the opening and additionaldripping. Once the container has been somewhat emptied, dosing of thedischarged flowable medium is improved and there is less danger ofdripping after the discharge. On the other hand, dosing of thedischarged flowable medium becomes more difficult.

[0005] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0006] JP 07309356 discloses a container for receiving and discharging aflowable medium, which comprises a resilient wall, and an openingthrough which the flowable medium may be discharged when the volume ofthe container is reduced by applying pressure to the resilient wall.This container is designed to prevent dripping of the flowable mediumafter it has been discharged through the opening but it cannot provideproper dosing, particularly when the container is fairly empty.

[0007] The container comprises a resilient wall enclosing a volume ofthe flowable medium, an opening through which the flowable medium may bedischarged when the volume of the container is reduced by applyingpressure to the resilient wall, and an automatically resetting pneumaticmeans for indirectly applying the pressure to the resilient wall, theautomatically resetting pneumatic means comprising an outer containerfor a gaseous medium, the outer container hermetically enclosing thecontainer receiving the flowable medium, except for the opening, and theouter container having a resilient wall for applying pressure on thegaseous medium, which pressure is transmitted to the resilient wall ofthe container receiving the flowable medium.

[0008] A similar container has been disclosed in DE U1 94 04 476. Inthis case, the outer container additional has at least one check valveto assure complete emptying of the container receiving the flowbalemedium. However, this container, too, does not assure proper dosing ofthe flowable material when the container receiving the flowable materialis nearly empty.

[0009] Containers for receiving and discharging a flowable material areknown, which have a generally cylindrical shape and whose cylinder wallsare substantially rigid but whose bottom wall is comprised of aresilient, flexible material which has a relatively good resettingproperty. Such a container has the problem that pressure on therelatively small-area bottom wall does not assure fine dosing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] It is the primary object of this invention to provide a containerof this general type, which assures good control of the dosing of thedischarged flowable medium even when the container is fairly empty whileavoiding dripping.

[0011] In one embodiment of the invention, this object is accomplishedwith a container for receiving and discharging a flowable medium, whichcomprises a resilient wall, an opening through which the flowable mediummay be discharged when the volume of the container is reduced byapplying pressure to the resilient wall, and an automatically resettingpneumatic means for applying the pressure to the resilient wall, theautomatically resetting pneumatic means comprising an actuating hollowbody comprised at least partly of a resilient material, the hollow bodybordering on the resilient wall, and the resilient wall and hollow bodytogether closing the volume of the container.

[0012] In another embodiment, the container comprises a resilient wallenclosing a volume receiving the flowable medium, an opening throughwhich the flowable medium may be discharged when the volume of thecontainer is reduced by applying pressure to the resilient wall, and anautomatically resetting pneumatic means for indirectly applying thepressure to the resilient wall, the automatically resetting pneumaticmeans comprising an outer container for a gaseous medium, the outercontainer hermetically enclosing the container receiving the flowablemedium, except for the opening, and the outer container having aresilient wall for applying pressure on the gaseous medium, whichpressure is transmitted to the resilient wall of the container receivingthe flowable medium, the proportion of the volume of the outer containerto the container hermetically enclosed thereby being between 1.2:1 to20:1.

[0013] Surprisingly, it has been found that the object of accuratedosing of the discharged flowable medium even from a fairly emptycontainer, while avoiding dripping, is accomplished by applying pressureon the resilient part of the container wall by means of the hollow bodyexerting a pneumatic pressure of this resilient container wall part, inthe one embodiment, while it is accomplished in the second double-walledcontainer embodiment by the special proportion of the volumes of theinner and outer containers.

[0014] According to preferred features of the first embodiment, thecontainer is substantially cylindrical, the resilient wall forms abottom of the cylindrical container and is arranged opposite theopening, and the actuating hollow body is substantially hemispherical.

[0015] According to preferred features of the second embodiment, a majorpart of the outer container, i.e. its entire wall except for a portionadjacent the opening, is of a resilient wall material. Such a structureis particularly useful for a flexible, tube-shaped container forreceiving and discharging a flowable medium since pressure is appliedover the entire container wall area when pressure is applied to theouter air-filled container. This avoids a crushing of the tube. Sincethe air pressure on the inner container, which works like an aircushion, is applied over the entire container wall area, the dischargeof the flowable medium is finely controlled. In addition, the yieldingwall of the tube will be automatically restored so that dripping isdependably avoided.

[0016] Furthermore, this double-walled structure has the advantage thatthe walls of the tube receiving the flowable medium can be squeezedtogether until the last drop of the flowable medium has been discharged.The outer container hermetically enclosing the tube has preferably aflat shape conforming to that of the tube, such as a flat parallelepipeor a cylinder of oval or round cross section. Alternatively, the outercontainer also may be of tube shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0017] The above and other objects. advantages and features of theinvention will become more apparent from the following description ofnow preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with theschematic drawing wherein

[0018]FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of a first embodiment and

[0019]FIG. 2 shows a like section of a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown container 10 forreceiving and discharging a flowable medium. The container comprisesresilient wall 13, and opening 15 in discharge nozzle 14 through whichthe flowable medium may be discharged when the volume of the containeris reduced by applying pressure to resilient wall 13. The container issubstantially cylindrical, and resilient wall 13 forms a bottom of thecylindrical container and is arranged opposite opening 15. The crosssection of the container may be substantially oval or round. Thecontainer may be of tubular shape and has a rigid cylindrical wall 11connected to resilient bottom wall 13 by conical bottom portion 12. Asshown, actuating hollow body 13 is substantially hemispherical.

[0021] As has been indicated in the introductory portion of thespecification, the flowable medium was discharged from containers ofthis type by applying pressure to the resilient bottom, with thedescribed disadvantages. These disadvantages are overcome by providingan automatically resetting pneumatic means for applying the pressure toresilient wall 13, which comprises actuating hollow body 16 comprised atleast partly of a resilient material, the hollow body bordering on theresilient wall, and resilient wall 13 and hollow body 16 togetherclosing the volume of the container.

[0022] Hemispherical hollow body 16 is air-tightly connected to the rimof resilient bottom wall 13, for example by welding or being formedintegrally therewith, so that the bottom wall and the wall of the hollowbody enclose a definite volume of gas, such as air. When the hollow bodyis squeezed, the enclosed volume of gas is compressed and transmitspressure to resilient bottom wall 13 over the entire area thereof. Thiscauses the flowable medium to be discharged through opening 15. Whilepressure is applied only to discrete points of the resilient bottom wallin the prior art containers, squeezing of hollow body 16 will applypressure to the entire area of the bottom wall, causing a controlleddischarge of the flowable medium through opening 15.

[0023] As soon as pressure on hollow body 16 is reduced or releasedentirely, the pressure on resilient bottom wall 13 is correspondinglyreduced or entirely released, and the resilient bottom wall is restoredto its original position. This causes the flowable medium to be suckedback into container 10 so that no medium will drip through opening 15.

[0024] The container 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 is tube-shaped but widerand thicker than container 10. Except for head 22, it comprises aresilient wall enclosing a volume receiving a flowable medium, andopening 25 through which the flowable medium may be discharged when thevolume of the container is reduced by applying pressure to the resilientwall. Tube-shaped container 20 is narrower at an upper end leading toopening 25 than at a bottom end, and the bottom end is closed by a foldin case the container is made of aluminum, or by a weld seam 21.Generally cylindrical head 22 is of a rigid material and has a thread 23for screwing a cover (not shown) over nozzle 24 which defines opening25. As in the first-described embodiment, the container has anautomatically resetting pneumatic means for indirectly applying pressureto the resilient wall of container 20.

[0025] In this embodiment, the resetting pneumatic means comprises outercontainer 26 for a gaseous medium. The outer container hermeticallyencloses container 20 receiving the flowable medium, except for theopening, and the outer container has a resilient wall for applyingpressure on the gaseous medium, which pressure is transmitted to theresilient wall of container 20 receiving the flowable medium. Accordingto the present invention, the proportion of the volume of outercontainer 26 to container 20 hermetically enclosed thereby is between1.2:1 to 20:1, preferably 1.5:1 to 6.5:1.

[0026] Preferably, a major part of outer container 26 is comprised of aresilient wall material, only end wall 27 adjacent head 22 being of arigid material. A gas-tight seal at head 22 defining opening 25 isprovided between container 20 receiving the flowable medium and outercontainer 26. This seal may be a weld seam.

[0027] At least a major part of container 20 receiving the flowablemedium is comprised of a resilient wall material.

[0028] The illustrated outer container 26 is substantially cylindricaland of substantially oval cross section so that the ovally curved wallsof the outer container face the wide sides of tube-shaped container 20.If desired, however, the cross section of outer container 26 may besubstantially round.

[0029] Since the outer container is hermetically sealed to container 20receiving the flowable medium, a gas volume is created between the twocontainers, and this serves as an automatically resetting pneumaticpressure means on the yielding walls of tube-shaped container 20.

[0030] When pressure is applied on outer container 26, preferablyperpendicularly to the curved wall of the outer container, for instanceby a finger of a user, the pressure applied to the gas, such as air,enclosed in the outer container will be transmitted to the entire areaof the resiliently yielding walls of container 20, which will bereversibly deformed. This assures a well controlled discharge of theflowable medium from opening 25. As soon as the pressure on the outercontainer is released, its wall as well as the wall of container 20 willbe automatically reset to its original shape. This dependably avoidsdripping after the discharge of the flowable medium.

What is claimed is:
 1. A container for receiving and discharging a flowable medium, which comprises (a) a resilient wall, (b) an opening through which the flowable medium may be discharged when the volume of the container is reduced by applying pressure to the resilient wall, and (b) an automatically resetting pneumatic means for applying the pressure to the resilient wall, the automatically resetting pneumatic means comprising (1) an actuating hollow body comprised at least partly of a resilient material, the hollow body bordering on the resilient wall, and the resilient wall and hollow body together closing the volume of the container.
 2. The container of claim 1, wherein the container is substantially cylindrical, the resilient wall forms a bottom of the cylindrical container and is arranged opposite the opening.
 3. The container of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the container is substantially oval.
 4. The container of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the container is substantially round.
 5. The container of claim 1, being of tubular shape.
 6. The container of claim 1, wherein the actuating hollow body is substantially hemispherical.
 7. A container for receiving and discharging a flowable medium, which comprises (a) a resilient wall enclosing a volume receiving the flowable medium, (b) an opening through which the flowable medium may be discharged when the volume of the container is reduced by applying pressure to the resilient wall, and (b) an automatically resetting pneumatic means for indirectly applying the pressure to the resilient wall, the automatically resetting pneumatic means comprising (1) an outer container for a gaseous medium, the outer container hermetically enclosing the container receiving the flowable medium, except for the opening, and the outer container having a resilient wall for applying pressure on the gaseous medium, which pressure is transmitted to the resilient wall of the container receiving the flowable medium, the proportion of the volume of the outer container to the container hermetically enclosed thereby being between 1.2:1 to 20:1.
 8. The container of claim 7, wherein the proportion is 1.5:1 to 6.5:1.
 9. The container of claim 7, wherein a major part of the outer container is comprised of a resilient wall material.
 10. The container of claim 7, further comprising a gas-tight seal at the opening between the container receiving the flowable medium and the outer container.
 11. The container of claim 7, wherein a major part of the container receiving the flowable medium is comprised of a resilient wall material.
 12. The container of claim 7, wherein the outer container is substantially cylindrical.
 13. The container of claim 12, wherein the cross section of the outer container is substantially oval.
 14. The container of claim 12, wherein the cross section of the outer container is substantially round. 